Customer Portal Access

Access by Invite

A user can access the customer portal after they accept the invitation sent by the administrator.

To access the Customer Portal, follow the steps given below:

Click the link provided in the customer-portal invitation that was sent to your registered e-mail ID

In the following customer portal page, create a password for your login

Click Register

You will now be logged into the Customer Portal.

Access by Direct Sign-up

A user can access the customer portal by directly signing up for it from the appropriate portal URL. To self sign-up for a portal, follow the steps given below:

Go to the portal URL you intend to sign-up for. The URL would look something like this - https://support.companyname.com/portal/<portalname>/HomePage.do

In the Customer Portal homepage, click Signup located towards your right

Enter your Name followed by your E-mail address

You would be asked to complete a Captcha to let us know that you're a human and not a spam bot.

Click Signup

Access on Receiving Auto-Invite

Users can be automatically invited to access the customer portal, when they submit their first ticket. For instance, John sends in an email to your helpdesk. On creating a ticket for John, the system sends out an auto-invite, requesting him to sign-up for your customer portal. Once John signs-up, he can track the status of his ticket instantaneously.

To sign-up for a portal on receiving auto-invite, follow the steps given below:

Access the URL provided in the customer-portal invitation that was sent to your e-mail inbox

In the following Customer Portal page, create a password for your login

Click Register

Note:

Users can sign-up only with the email address they had submitted a ticket from, previously.

Forgot Password! How to Reset?

If you can't remember your password for the customer portal, you could always reset the same. To reset your password and continue using Customer Portal, follow the steps given below:

Go to the portal URL you intend to log-in into. The URL would look something like this - https://support.companyname.com/portal/<portalname>/HomePage.do

In the Customer Portal homepage, click Reset located towards your right

Enter your E-mail Address and complete a Captcha

Click Submit

Check your e-mail inbox. You should have received a message to your account's e-mail address

Click the reset link from the message to choose your new password

Customer Portal User's Tasks

You can now add tickets and search the knowledge base for solutions using the customer-portal link provided in your invitation e-mail. However, to view and track the status of your tickets, you will have to log in to your account.

The customer portal enables users to add tickets from their Web site, view the status of their tickets as well as the status of all the tickets that belong to their account, search for solutions in the knowledge base and much more.

When a user logs into the Customer Portal, they can see the following details:

Status of their tickets

Recent and most-viewed forum posts and solutions

Search bar for solutions

Customers can complete the following tasks when they access the Web portal:

Adding Tickets

Select a department from the pick list Enter a subject line for the ticket

Enter information regarding your ticket

Select a product

Set a priority

Add attachments, if any

Click Save

Tracking the Status of Your Tickets

You can track the status of your tickets in the Customer Portal. In the Tickets page, you can view all your tickets. You can also use a filter to view only open tickets or closed tickets. You can view the date on which the ticket was created, the department it is related to and the priority that is assigned to it.

To view the status of your tickets, follow the steps given below:

Click My Tickets

Click on a ticket to view its details

Note:

To track the status of your tickets you have to log in to the Customer Portal.

Searching for Tickets

You can search for tickets from the My Tickets page. You can base your search on the the following:

Ticket ID

Subject of the ticket

Priority assigned to the ticket

E-mail ID from which the ticket was sent

Solutions and Forums

You can view the Solutions and Community Forums section in the Customer Portal. The Solutions and Forums section, lists the following widgets:

Most Discussed Forums: Lists the topics that are most discussed in the forums

Recent Forums: Lists the topics which were recently posted in the forums

Most Viewed Articles: Lists the most-viewed solutions

Recent Articles: Lists the recently-posted solutions

Note:

Community tab will be displayed in the Customer Portal only if you have enabled it from here - Setup ->> Channels ->> Customer Portal ->> Access Settings.

Searching for Solutions

You can search for solutions either from the Homepage or from the Solutions page. You will be able to view the most-viewed articles and the recent articles by default.

Using the Search Bar

Customers can search for an article in the Customer Portal using the Search bar. When you search for solutions, results will include solutions from all the departments of your organization. You can search either search for articles related to a specific department or articles related to a specific topic.

Customers can also view the comments and attachments related to the articles that are displayed in their search results.

Posting a topic in the Community

Users can create and post a topic in your community through the Customer Portal.

To create a forum post, follow the steps given below:

Log in to the Customer Portal

Click the Community tab

Click New Topic

Choose the type of forum post you want to create

Enter a title for the forum post

Enter the text for the forum post

Select the forum that you want your post published in

Select a sub-forum, if applicable

Add attachments, if required

Enter the required tags related to your post

Enter e-mail IDs that you want to send a copy of the forum post to

Click Publish

You can preview your post before you even publish it. Besides previewing a post, you can also choose to save your post as a draft and publish it later.